Fall from Grace
by Silverwing 16
Summary: Mandarin's origin story, please read and review *Updated ending*


_**So I redid the ending, I'm not very happy with this story, but eh, I guess I'll leave it up, enjoy. I'll be happy if you like it and if you don't then oh well. **_

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_Corruption is a powerful weapon of the dark forces, it dirties minds and brings slaves into the shadows and destroys their souls. It is spread by many ways, some join the wrong crowd, sometimes it is an accident,and while all beings are born with corruption within their minds, the truly evil ones, are born with the seeds of corruption within their souls._

Even in his humble beginnings, Mandarin was corrupted, though the orange monkey wasn't evil, the darkness was present in the darkest corners of his soul. It fed on the dissent within the young monkey's mind when he saw how the others listened to Antauri without question, jealousy grew in his heart and only grew as time passed.

When Nova and SPRX began fighting, he took it upon himself to tell them off, even when the Alchemist gently corrected him, but still the others followed only Antauri's commands the gentle black monkey continued to get in his way of leading the team. Mandarin snarled to himself, he would show Antauri who was the _real_ boss around here.

It wasn't hard to get the "leader" of the group on his own, though doing it when the Alchemist wasn't nearby was somewhat challenging, but Mandarin managed to find Antauri while he was meditating in solitude, away from the others who would doubtlessly want to play.

Mandarin snuck up behind the leader and pounced on him, the two wrestled, chattering and growling as they circled one another, searching for a breach in the other's defenses. It was Mandarin who was taken down first, as gentle as Antauri was, a challenge to his authority wasn't taken lightly. The black and orange monkeys became a blur of slashing claws and flashing teeth as they fought, only distinguishable from one another by the colors of their pelts.

The rest of the group watched in stunned fear, chattering quietly to each other, but they did not stop the fight, knowing that they would only be wounded themselves. Orange and black fur occasional flew through the air as a swipe of razor sharp claws sheared it off, hitting the delicate skin beneath the hair. The screeching of the monkeys locked in combat easily reached the Alchemist's ears as the man returned from a journey into the nearby city to get supplies and the wizard rushed to the source of the noise.

"Antauri! Mandarin!" he reprimanded sharply, but the contest for leader would not be put off by the words of one man, even the Alchemist. He turned to find the rest of his group of monkeys watching the fight, and quickly realized what was going on, this was not a mere disagreement, this was a battle for dominance, and once it was over, he would have to respect the outcome.

Despite their magical nature and higher intelligence compared to regular monkeys, his multicolored companions were still animals, and did cling to some of the laws of the jungle. As much as the Alchemist wanted them to get along, this was not a battle any of them on the sidelines could stop. He watched the fighting monkeys nervously, cringing when a shriek of pain split the air as one of the combatants scored a solid hit, or when a small body was slammed against the ground.

Nova, the ever caring yellow monkey, however much she put up the tough front, wrapped her paw around his hand, the cloaked man smiled down at the sunshine yellow primate, and squeezed her paw, offering comfort as he received it.

Eventually Mandarin won, and the victorious orange monkey smirked down at his fallen opponent, Antauri kept his stoic expression, which seemed to agitate the new leader as he chattered harshly at his new subordinate.

Now the Alchemist stepped forward to intervene, gently nudging the orange monkey off of his black brother, "I think he gets it Mandarin," he chided gently, leading to two wounded to his lab to patch them up.

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Ever since he could remember, there was always something more within his mind, a whisper when he was younger, but now it was his entire being. Mandarin knew he was destined for greatness, he would be a mighty king and his subjects would adore and respect him. These thoughts never stopped, the promise was always there in his mind, and by the time he knew what it truly was, the orange monkey was unable to stop it.

* * *

_Mandarin didn't pay attention to the two conversing humans, or his cowering brothers and sister who stood at their feet, the orange monkey was entirely focused on the portal before him. Even when the Alchemist warned him to step away from the window into the dark one's prison, instead he remained stationary, staring at the small being closest to him. **There you are, I have wondered who it was I have whispered to this whole time, you should be proud little one, for you have made all of this possible. Thanks to you the universe will be ours, and the cosmos will BURN!** it cried victoriously in his mind. Mandarin screamed in shock as the being reached out and claimed control of his body, jumping up and down in an attempt to regain cotrol of his limbs, but he failed, and the Dark ones were released, the alchemist was possesed by them, and all goodness within Mandarin was destroyed forever._

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Even as the leader of the Hyperforce, the evil that now possesed Mandarin did not sleep, it dragged him forcefully down the path to his betrayal to the universe, betrayal to his family, but the orange monkey's heart was now made of stone, no love or pity would ever be found there. Mandarin was now as much of a puppet of the Dark Ones as the Skeleton King, and his strings were made of steel wires and longing for power. And the rest as they say, is history...


End file.
